Egypt postpones Morsi’s trial

The Cairo Criminal Court yesterday adjourned the retrial of former President Mohamed Morsi and 23 leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood to 13 December to allow the prosecution to present more evidence.

The defendants include the Muslim Brotherhood’s General Guide, Mohammed Badie.

The defendants are accused of handing state secrets to foreign countries and organisations including the Palestinian movement Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, financing terrorists and planning terror activities in the country.

Since Morsi’s detention in 2013, he has been subject to forced disappearances and prevented from meeting anyone except on two occasions. Whilst he has been sentenced to over 45 years for allegedly spying for Qatar and “killing protestors”, he continues to be tried for numerous other cases.

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The former president faces a raft of additional charges, ranging from “jailbreak” to “espionage”.

Morsi, along with a host of co-defendants, has consistently denied the charges against him, while many independent observers say the accusations are politically motivated.

A leader of Egypt’s now-banned Muslim Brotherhood group, Morsi became the country’s first-ever freely-elected president in mid-2012.

One year later, however, he was ousted by Egypt’s military, which killed hundreds of his supporters and threw tens of thousands behind bars.